Council

Hundred-and-sixteenth Session

Rome, 14 - 19 June 1999

A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR FAO
2000 - 2015
Version 3.0

This document contains the third draft of a proposed Strategic Framework to guide the
work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the medium and
longer term. It is a revision of Version 2.0, modified on the basis of the reactions and
guidance of Technical Committees of FAO (the Committees on Commodity Problems, on
Agriculture, on Fisheries and on Forestry), of the Ministerial Meetings on Fisheries and
on Forestry, as well as those comments from sister organizations in the United Nations
system and other partners outside the system which had been received by the Secretariat by
mid-March 1999.

A structured process of consultations, between September 1998 and September 1999,
foresees the preparation of successive versions of the document, prior to its submission
for discussion and adoption by the FAO Conference in November 1999 as the Strategic
Framework for FAO for the years 2000-2015 (see also Annex I). This document therefore
constitutes the third step in an iterative and interactive process, involving the full
membership of FAO, and drawing on the wealth of knowledge and vision which its partners
may offer.

Version 1.0 was discussed by the Programme and Finance Committees at their autumn
sessions and subsequently by the Council at its 115th session in November 1998.
On the basis of the reports of the Committees, additional information provided and its own
consideration of the document, the Council "welcomed the progress made so far and
considered that Version 1.0 provided a good basis for discussion at this stage." It
recognized the wide range of expectations as to the scope and contents of future versions,
which it would be particularly challenging to reconcile. Nevertheless, it agreed on
"the desirability of a more concise and less descriptive document to facilitate
further discussions", but pointed out that "ways would need to be found to
present sufficient supporting material to meet the diverse interests of Members."

The Secretariat has endeavoured to accommodate, to the greatest extent possible, the
recommendations and suggestions made on both Versions 1.0 and 2.0, keeping in mind the
Council's general guidance. The present document, Version 3.0 contains an entirely new
section covering the programmme for implementation of the Strategic Framework, and an
additional annex highlighting regional perspectives on the corporate strategies. Version
3.0 has the following structure:

Part I, the Overall Strategic Framework, alludes to the challenges facing the
Organization in the coming 15 years (which are dealt with in more detail in Annex II). It
then recalls the purpose of FAO, and the goals of Members to which FAO is expected to
contribute. Finally, it presents statements of values, mission and vision for the
Organization.

Part II, Corporate Strategies, spells out in more depth the strategic orientations
which derive from the overall analysis. In its first section, it proposes five major
corporate strategies, to address Members' needs in the medium to long term, defining
within each area two or three strategic objectives. The second section of Part II
identifies major strategic issues of a cross-organizational nature, and indicates the
steps underway or proposed to respond to them. Version 1.0 had five such strategies; a
sixth was added for Version 2.0 and received support during discussions on that document.

Part III gives the Implementation Programme for the Strategic Framework, as requested
in Conference Resolution 6/97 (see below). After situating the Strategic Framework within
the broader planning framework now approved for FAO, this part explains the planning
methodology to be adopted and covers the question of priority setting in the context of
the new planning framework. Material on criteria, on comparative advantage and on
partnerships, presented in the annexes to Version 2.0, has now been expanded and moved to
this part of the main document as suggested during discussions in the Technical
Committees. Finally, a schedule is given for implementation following Conference approval
in November 1999.

Annex I shows the sequence of events leading to the approval and publication of the
Strategic Framework.

Annex II looks at trends in the external environment and the challenges facing
countries and the international community in achieving the objectives of the World Food
Summit and the outlook for agriculture, forestry and fisheries development. It then
summarizes the results of the Secretariat's analysis of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT), the results of the questionnaire to Members, and the
rationale underlying the proposals for corporate strategies. Much of this material was
presented in the body of Version 1.0, and in response to the Council's suggestion it has
been moved to the annex to allow the document to focus on proposals.

Annex III contains an abridged version of the Secretariat's analysis of external
partnerships, with examples presented in tabular form to illustrate the detailed work
carried out in the process of formulating the corporate strategies. In response to
comments made in the Technical Committees, a further internal review has been carried out
of the role which FAO would have vis-à-vis partners in the various areas covered, and
amendments have been made in the examples provided. Further detail has also been given
regarding the specific UN organizations with which FAO will be working on different
aspects of the strategies.

Annex IV complements the proposals made in Part II, under Corporate Strategies to
Address Members' Needs, by giving more specific regional perspectives for each of the 12
strategic objectives.

The document is submitted in accordance with Conference Resolution 6/97, reproduced
below:

RESOLUTION 6/97Strengthening the FAO 2000 Project

THE CONFERENCE

Reaffirming the commitment in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security
and the World Food Plan of Action to reduce the number of undernourished people to half
their present level no later than 2015,

Welcoming the proposals by the Director-General to strengthen the
strategic management of FAO, especially the formulation of a long-term Strategic Framework
and consequently modified Medium-Term Plan and Programme of Work and Budget (the FAO 2000
project):

Requests the Director-General to further the process leading to the
development of a Strategic Vision for the FAO for the years 2000-2015, including inter
alia, a set of core strategic objectives and an Implementation Programme;

Decides that the process should be, in the framework of existing
structures, a full participatory process, involving not only the Secretariat but also the
full membership of FAO;

Decides further that this process should recognize that a prime
responsibility of the CFS is to monitor the implementation of the World Food Plan of
Action;

Requests the Director-General to prepare an appropriate progress report
for consideration in the FAO Council in November 1998.

(Adopted on 18 November 1997)

Box 1. Action on Version 3.0

The present document, Version 3.0, constitutes the second revision of the draft
Strategic Framework, and is submitted for the views and comments of the Programme and
Finance Committees and the Council, as well as FAO's external partners. Reactions to
Version 3.0 will be drawn upon to produce Version 4.0 for the consideration of the
Committees, the Council, and finally the Conference in November 1999.